Mailers are today a well-known and common method of merchants transmitting their commercial messages to potential customers, usually at their places of residence. Typically a mailer will be formed from a cut segment of a continuous printed web of paper that is folded mid-length and has a tab applied to the edges of the sections parallel to the fold line. Normally, the tab will be made of paper and have an adhesive on the surface thereof which is affixed to the edges of the sections of the mailer which are parallel to the fold line thereby preventing each section from moving relative to the other section.
With mailers being used in increasing volumes of numbers, it is important that one be able to apply the tab to the edges of the overlying sections of the mailer as rapidly as possible so that the cost of this step will be as inexpensive as possible. The prior art has recognized the need to apply tabs to the edges of products as well as certain other related fields of endeavor as evidenced by a number of prior art patents of which the inventors of the instant application are aware, to wit, the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,670 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,122 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,034 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,646 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,070 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,976 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,031 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,206 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,336 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,860 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,427 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,775 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,720
It is further noted that current postal regulations mandate the application of one or two tabs to the edges of a mailer, with the number of tabs determined by the weight of the mailer. Current available equipment does not satisfactorily perform this function.